Jeremiah 30 - Clarke's commentary and critical notes on the Bible

The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord - This prophecy was delivered about a year after the taking of Jerusalem; so Dahler. Dr. Blayney supposes it and the following chapter to refer to the future restoration of both Jews and Israelites in the times of the Gospel; though also touching at the restoration from the Babylonish captivity, at the end of seventy years. Supposing these two Chapter s to be penned after the taking of Jerusalem, which appears the most natural, they will refer to the same events, one captivity shadowing forth another, and one restoration being the type or pledge of the second.

Thus speaketh the LORD God of Israel, saying, Write thee all the words that I have spoken unto thee in a book. Write thee all the words that I have spoken unto thee in a book - The book here recommended I believe to be the thirtieth and thirty-first Chapter s; for among the Hebrews any portion of writing, in which the subject was finished, however small, was termed ספר sepher, a Book, a treatise or discourse.

For, lo, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will bring again the captivity of my people Israel and Judah, saith the LORD: and I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it. The days come - First, After the conclusion of the seventy years. Secondly, Under the Messiah.

That I will bring again the captivity of Israel - The ten tribes, led captive by the king of Assyria, and dispersed among the nations.

And Judah - The people carried into Babylon at two different times; first, under Jeconiah, and, secondly, under Zedekiah, by Nebuchadnezzar.

And these are the words that the LORD spake concerning Israel and concerning Judah.

For thus saith the LORD; We have heard a voice of trembling, of fear, and not of peace. We have heard a voice of trembling - This may refer to the state and feelings of the people during the war which Cyrus carried on against the Babylonians. Trembling and terror would no doubt affect them, and put an end to peace and all prosperity; as they could not tell what would be the issue of the struggle, and whether their state would be better or worse should their present masters fall in the conflict. This is well described in the next verse, where men are represented as being, through pain and anguish, like women in travail. See the same comparison Isaiah 13:6-8.

Ask ye now, and see whether a man doth travail with child? wherefore do I see every man with his hands on his loins, as a woman in travail, and all faces are turned into paleness?

Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob's trouble; but he shall be saved out of it. Alas! for that day is great - When the Medes and Persians with all their forces shall come on the Chaldeans, it will be the day of Jacob's trouble - trial, dismay, and uncertainty; but he shall be delivered out of it - the Chaldean empire shall fall, but the Jews shall be delivered by Cyrus. Jerusalem shall be destroyed by the Romans, but the Israel of God shall be delivered from its ruin. Not one that had embraced Christianity perished in the sackage of that city.

For it shall come to pass in that day, saith the LORD of hosts, that I will break his yoke from off thy neck, and will burst thy bonds, and strangers shall no more serve themselves of him: I will break his yoke - That is, the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar.

Of him - Of Jacob, (Jeremiah 30:7), viz., the then captive Jews.

But they shall serve the LORD their God, and David their king, whom I will raise up unto them. But they shall serve the Lord their God, and David their King - This must refer to the times of the Messiah and hence the Chaldee has, "They shall obey the Lord their God, וישת מאון למשיחה בר דוד veyishta meun limschicha bar David, and they shall obey the Messiah, the Son of David." This is a very remarkable version; and shows that it was a version, not according to the letter, but according to their doctrine and their expectation. David was long since dead; and none of his descendants ever reigned over them after the Babylonish captivity, nor have they since been a regal nation. Zerubbabel, under the Persians, and the Asmoneans, can be no exception to this. They have been no nation since; they are no nation now; and it is only in the latter days that they can expect to be a nation, and that must be a Christian nation.

Christ is promised under the name of his progenitor, David, Isaiah 55:3, Isaiah 55:4; Ezekiel 34:23, Ezekiel 34:24; Ezekiel 37:24, Ezekiel 37:25; Hosea 3:5.

Therefore fear thou not, O my servant Jacob, saith the LORD; neither be dismayed, O Israel: for, lo, I will save thee from afar, and thy seed from the land of their captivity; and Jacob shall return, and shall be in rest, and be quiet, and none shall make him afraid.

For I am with thee, saith the LORD, to save thee: though I make a full end of all nations whither I have scattered thee, yet will I not make a full end of thee: but I will correct thee in measure, and will not leave thee altogether unpunished. Though I make a full end of all nations - Though the Persians destroy the nations whom they vanquish, yet they shall not destroy thee.

For thus saith the LORD, Thy bruise is incurable, and thy wound is grievous. Thy bruise is incurable - אנוש anush, desperate, not incurable; for the cure is promised in Jeremiah 30:17, I will restore health unto thee, and I will heal thee of thy wounds.

There is none to plead thy cause, that thou mayest be bound up: thou hast no healing medicines. There is none to plead thy cause - All thy friends and allies have forsaken thee.

All thy lovers have forgotten thee; they seek thee not; for I have wounded thee with the wound of an enemy, with the chastisement of a cruel one, for the multitude of thine iniquity; because thy sins were increased.

Why criest thou for thine affliction? thy sorrow is incurable for the multitude of thine iniquity: because thy sins were increased, I have done these things unto thee. Thy sorrow is incurable - אנוש anush, desperate. See Jeremiah 30:12.

Therefore all they that devour thee shall be devoured; and all thine adversaries, every one of them, shall go into captivity; and they that spoil thee shall be a spoil, and all that prey upon thee will I give for a prey. They that devour thee - The Chaldeans.

Shall be devoured - By the Medes and Persians.

All that prey upon thee will I give for a prey - The Assyrians were destroyed by the Babylonians; the Babylonians, by the Medes and Persians; the Egyptians and Persians were destroyed by the Greeks, under Alexander. All these nations are now extinct, but the Jews, as a distinct people, still exist.

For I will restore health unto thee, and I will heal thee of thy wounds, saith the LORD; because they called thee an Outcast, saying, This is Zion, whom no man seeketh after.

Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will bring again the captivity of Jacob's tents, and have mercy on his dwellingplaces; and the city shall be builded upon her own heap, and the palace shall remain after the manner thereof. The city shall be builded upon her own heap - Be re-edified from its own ruins. See the book of Nehemiah, passim.

And the palace shall remain - Meaning, the king's house shall be restored; or, more probably, the temple shall be rebuilt; which was true, for after the Babylonish captivity it was rebuilt by Nehemiah, etc. By the tents, distinguished from the dwelling-places of Jacob, we may understand all the minor dispersions of the Jews, as well as those numerous synagogues found in large cities.

And out of them shall proceed thanksgiving and the voice of them that make merry: and I will multiply them, and they shall not be few; I will also glorify them, and they shall not be small. I will multiply them - They shall be very numerous; even where at present they have but tents.

I will also glorify them - I will put honor upon them every where, so that they shall be no longer contemptible. This will be a very great change, for they are now despised all over the earth.

Their children also shall be as aforetime, and their congregation shall be established before me, and I will punish all that oppress them. Their children also - They shall have the education of their own children as formerly.

And their congregation - Their religious assemblies.

Shall be established - Being, in the latter days, incorporated with those "who serve the Lord their God, and worship the Messiah, the son of David."

And their nobles shall be of themselves, and their governor shall proceed from the midst of them; and I will cause him to draw near, and he shall approach unto me: for who is this that engaged his heart to approach unto me? saith the LORD. Their nobles shall be of themselves - Strangers shall not rule over them; and -

Their governor shall proceed from the midst of them - Both Nehemiah and Zerubbabel, their nobles and governors after the return from Babylon, were Jews.

And ye shall be my people, and I will be your God. Ye shall be my people - The old covenant shall be renewed.

Behold, the whirlwind of the LORD goeth forth with fury, a continuing whirlwind: it shall fall with pain upon the head of the wicked. The whirlwind of the Lord - A grievous tempest of desolation, -

Shall fall with pain upon the head of the wicked - On Nebuchadnezzar and the Chaldeans.

The fierce anger of the LORD shall not return, until he have done it, and until he have performed the intents of his heart: in the latter days ye shall consider it. In the latter days ye shall consider it - By the latter days the Gospel dispensation is generally meant; and that restoration which is the principal topic in this and the succeeding chapter refers to this time. Had the Jews properly considered this subject, they would long ere this have been brought into the liberty of the Gospel, and saved from the maledictions under which they now groan. Why do not the Jews read their own prophets more conscientiously?

Commentary on the Bible, by Adam Clarke [1831].